So the wait and anxiety was worth it – I’m through to the next round of the New Comedian Of The Year 2010 Competition.

As I mentioned in my last blog, the audience gets to vote on who they think is best.

So if you are free on Monday, please come along and tick my name on your slip of paper.

You never know you may just be seeing new up and coming starts of the future.
You can watch some great comedy and in a few years look back in a few years time
and think “oh, I saw him years ago, he was good then, less slick, less make up!).

Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year 2010 22nd November (Monday night) click for more details http://bit.ly/aC5Ovh

And if that wasn’t enough competitions for one week, as I am on a bit of a roll, on
Wednesday I’ll be putting myself up for judgement as well.

24th Nov – Midlands New Comedian of the Year in Leicester.

Chortle, the website you must be looking at for gigs and info, doesnt say a lot about it except that the list of names of previous winners is impressive and Wikipedia notes that the finals are in Leicester in February. Not quite as far to go as Edinburgh, so that’s always a plus.

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In case you don’t know, Mirth Control is the biggest independent comedy booker in the UK. It has over 1000 comedians on its database (including me), and organises bookings in over 90 venues across the country.

If you get in with these guys you get to do gigs round the whole country – something I really look forward to next year.

Comedian Geoff Whiting runs this moveable mirthfest. I met Geoff just last week. He’s a nice guy and offered some good feedback. Although I’m not too sure about their logo which I have copied to make my blog post look nice.

Geoff’s got a well-earned rep for running great comedy nights. He doesn’t just get the top comics booked – he makes sure the up-and-comings get a break as well.

Result: wild and diverse evenings across the UK, all the comics are on top form, audiences laugh merrily and everyone goes home happy.

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My mate and all-round solid bloke Darren Walsh (left) has a new night starting tomorrow (thursday 4th) at Chequers bar in Old Street. It’s called Fe Fi Fo Funny. Which is a great name considering Darren’s a giant himself at 6’8″.

I’m hopefully looking forward to seeing some friendly faces in the audience – wil you be there? It’s free entry and you’ll have a great time. I’m not joking.

Darren’s worked really hard to get this all together, and first nights are always tough anyway – so why not come along and offer your support?

I like Darren’s cartoon of me as well – I’ve turned out much more handsome than in real life. He is very tall and very talented. grrr.More details of the gig here.

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So it was back to the office on Monday after Sunday’s competition, spending the day working so I wasn’t too distracted waiting for the results and wondering if I got through?

It was a tough crowd. A whole line of hecklers in the front row threw me a bit, but I reckon I managed OK. (Wondering why there are no events created just for them – Professional Heckler of the Year, anyone?)

The rest of the audience were solid though. If you’re reading this and you were there, laughing at me – thanks!

It was a good experience on the whole. Worth going for it. Can best describe the atmosphere backstage as edgy camaraderie.

Johnny Armstrong (above) co-MCs this night with me. We showcase some really good acts, old, new and gently-used. Members from the audience can have a go at getting up on stage to tell jokes afterwards. Sometimes they’re just as funny as the pros.

Come along for a great night – entry’s free. Looking forward to seeing you there.

and Thursday 4th November I’m at Darren’s first gig read about it here:

Guy

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Don’t hold it against me, but I went South, to Croydon tonight. Laughter Lines organised by Gareth Eaden (facebook either of those to get the details) First Tuesday of the month in the Dog and Bull. Second Tuesday at the Royal Standard.

Nice room upstairs in an old fashioned pub. (both venues are nicely old school). Pity there weren’t more people in the audience although numbers did improve towards the end. Not ideal. So you would think that this gig isnt much fun or worth the trek. But it is. Nice crowd, good vibe and a chance for some acts to work on new material.

Try and make your way to support it – youll be glad you did.

I did my fail safe set, nice and easy, and as usual the “health and safety” gag probably got the best laughs. Nice to have people come up at the end saying good set, laughed, makes it all worth the effort.